NTL Spends £8.2bn On Cable & Wireless Communications
NTL has today acquired the telephone, internet and television operations of Cable & Wireless Communications plc (CWC ConsumerCo), at a cost of £8.2 billion. The deal to buy CWC is being backed by France Telecom, which has spent $5.5 billion increasing its stake in NTL from its current position of 10% (see NTL Enters Exclusive Negotiations With Cable & Wireless) to around 25%. The corporate business of CWC will be amalgamated back into parent company, Cable & Wireless.
The takeover will make NTL the UK’s largest cable firm with 2.8 million customers. This would leave Telewest Communications as the only other major cable operator in the UK, with 1.4 million customers. Telewest had been holding merger talks with CWC for some time but was sidelined from negotiations recently when NTL entered a period of exclusivity with CWC (see Telewest Chief ‘Disappointed’ About CWC/NTL Talks).
Barclay Knapp, president and CEO at NTL said: “The acquisition of CWC residential assets, and the strategic partnership forged with France Telecom, vaults NTL to centre stage in this new world of communications.”
